Mel Hutchins
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1928 Sacramento, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Arcadia (Arcadia, California) |
| College | BYU (1947–1951) |
| NBA draft | 1951 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall |
| Selected by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks | |
| Playing career | 1951–1958 |
| Position | Power forward / Center |
| Number | 14, 2, 9, 4, 10 |
| Career history | |
| 1951–1953 | Milwaukee Hawks |
| 1953–1957 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| 1957–1958 | New York Knicks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 4,851 (11.1 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 4,186 (9.6 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,298 (3.0 apg) |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Melvin R. Hutchins (born November 22, 1928) is a retired American basketball player. He played professionally in the NBA from 1951 to 1958.
College career
A 6'6" power forward/center, Hutchins attended Brigham Young University in 1946-47 and 1947-48 as a Freshman and Sophomore, and after a one year absence where he worked in Southern California, in 1949-50 and 1950-51. As a Senior, he led BYU to the 1951 NIT National Championship. At the conclusion of the 1951 season, Hutchins played in the annual East-West College All-Star game, where he was named MVP after leading the West to victory.
On February 16, 2013, Hutchins and his BYU teammate Roland Minson had their jersey's retired during a ceremony at half-time of a BYU and University of Portland basketball game.[1]
Professional career
Hutchins was taken with the second pick in the 1951 NBA draft. He played for the Milwaukee Hawks, Fort Wayne Pistons, and New York Knicks. In 1952, as a rookie, he was the co-leader of the NBA in total rebounds with 880, at a rate of 13.3 rebounds per game. To date, Hutchins and Wilt Chamberlain are the only rookies in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding. Hutchins and Bill Tosheff were named co-NBA Rookie of the Year by newspaper writers—a designation not currently recognized by the NBA, although it has appeared in the official NBA record book as recently as 1998.[2][3] During his career, Hutchins appeared in four NBA All-Star Games, (1953, 1954, 1956, and 1957), and finished 4th in MVP voting in 1956.[4]
Hutchins helped lead the Pistons to back to back NBA Finals in 1955 and 1956, although the Pistons fell short of a championship in both series', in 7 and 5 games, respectively. Along with being one of the top rebounders in the NBA, Hutchins was renowned for his defense.[5] During his Hall of Fame induction speech in August 2011, Satch Sanders said that Hutchins was one of the great defenders who inspired him to play defense at a high level: "He (Hutchins) was so smooth defensively, always in the right place," Sanders told CSNNE.com moments after delivering his acceptance speech. "I thought to myself, 'I sure hope one day I can play like that.[6]'"After sustaining a serious knee injury midway through the 1958 season, Hutchins retired after only 7 NBA seasons, with 4,851 career points and 4,186 career rebounds.
Personal
Hutchins is the brother of 1952 Miss America winner Colleen Kay Hutchins and the uncle of former two-time NBA All Star Kiki Vandeweghe.
See also
References
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External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). and Basketball-Reference.com
- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). and Basketball-Reference.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Mel Hutchins at BYUCougars.com
- 1928 births
- Living people
- Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players
- Basketball players from California
- BYU Cougars men's basketball players
- Centers (basketball)
- Fort Wayne Pistons players
- Milwaukee Hawks players
- National Basketball Association All-Stars
- New York Knicks players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Sportspeople from Sacramento, California
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks draft picks
